Magnolia Bakery inspired Vanilla Cupcakes

Believe it or not … I am not the world’s best cupcake baker. Shocking… I know! Because I have these mad cookie making skillz, people always assume I must be this phenomenal all around baker. Which I am not. I’m ok. But not great. Which leads me to this quick and not so original recipe post for Vanilla Cupcakes.

One day a friend asked me to make cupcakes for her daughter’s birthday party. At first I was like .. ummm maybe not a good idea. But then I thought… I am up to the challenge. And of course no boxed recipe would do. These had to be from scratch! Because I have issues. Anyway, if you know me even a smidge… you know that once I agree to a task I will give you 150% . There is no inbetween with me. It’s all or none.

Now since I am not a master cup caker I immediately hit google for some recipe ideas. I am not even sure what I searched but it led me to find this Vanilla Cupcake Magnolia Bakery Recipe video on POP Sugar . To be honest, since I’m rarely up to snuff on my pop culture and never leave the burbs, I didn’t even know what Magnolia Bakery was… but the cupcakes looked amazing!

I followed the recipe pretty much exact the first time around and found that I needed to make at least one change : the cupcake was too sweet for my liking so I suggest cutting back on the sugar a bit. I would start by removing a few tablespoons to start. Any other modifications are in the recipe below. But this is a pretty excellent vanilla cupcake recipe for any level baker. And trust me when I tell you… if I can make this work SO CAN YOU!

Obviously my Magnolia Swirl needs a little bit more work!

I recently made these cupcakes for Fourth of July, hence the red white and blue sprinkles. You can add your own touches to this by changing the color of the sprinkles or adding color to the buttercream itself. You can spread the buttercream on with a knife (so easy and still pretty) or you can put the frosting in a pastry bag (I use a self sealing bag and snip the tip) and pipe the frosting on. Remember you’ll want thicker frosting if you want decide to pipe out the frosting.

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees f.
Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat an additional 2-3 minutes. Continue to beat and add eggs one at a time. Continue to beat until all eggs have been incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Combine flours. Gradually add flour while alternating with the the milk and vanilla. Ending with the milk.
Line cupcake pan with baking cups. Using an ice cream scooper drop even amounts of batter into each cup, no more than 2/3rds full.
Lightly tap the pan and then bake about 20 mins. or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven let cool, remove cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely before icing.

Buttercream Frosting

Whip together about 5 cups of powdered sugar with butter, milk and vanilla. Gradually add more sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Spread or pipe icing on cooled cupcakes and decorate with your favorite sprinkles or leave plain.
You will need more sugar to make a firmer frosting that can be piped. Start with 5 and then add 1/4 cup at a time.